Features of dismantling the floor screed

Repair of an apartment or house is a difficult task for every person, especially for those who decide to do a major overhaul on their own. There is such a joke: if you want to know how much money is needed for repairs, then make the necessary calculations for the cost of building materials, tools and the like and multiply this amount by three. In other words, repair is not a cheap idea, so many people strive to make it their own hands at the lowest cost.

Renovation of an apartment or a private house begins with a variety of rough work. It is necessary to break the old wallpaper, replace windows and doors with new ones, and most importantly, replace the screed on the floor of the room.The screed is dismantled in cases where it was poured more than a year ago, and she managed to significantly lose her heat and sound insulating properties. The process of dismantling is a very laborious and painstaking work, however, if you try and apply maximum strength, then you can do it quite well by yourself. Many people want to do it without error, saving their family budget.

A screed is called a durable coating, which is located between the reinforced concrete slab and the upper floor layer. With this coating, the floors in the room are leveled, the cracks and cracks are removed. Between the screed and the floor of the room is heat insulation, insulation or waterproofing. They create additional comfort inside the dwelling. Under the screed is reinforcement. Its removal will not be difficult. Be careful during the dismantling of the floor screed, do not overdo it and do not destroy the bearing walls.

Floor screed happens:

• in the form of a monolith - a mixture based on cement and sand;
• composite - several layers of gypsum and cement or claydite-concrete.

To achieve the greatest strength, a monolithic tie is reinforced with a metal mesh. A high-quality screed has high strength, waterproofing, as well as thermal insulation properties. Among all the repair and construction work one of the most popular is the disassembly of the screed.

You can easily dismantle yourself. You should not begin repair if you do not possess necessary skills of the builder, understand nothing in this business. In this case, you need to ask for help from the masters of construction organizations. All sorts of newspapers and magazines are full of offers of construction and demolition services.

Over time, any floor will become unusable. Concrete may begin to color, flake and crack. In such a situation it is worth deciding whether to dismantle the old tie or it will still serve. Basically, the wizard advised to dismantle the screed. Such work is cheaper than recovery.

There are points to consider:

• Is there a need to make the floor lower.
• Bad floor appearance. It may be more profitable to simply reinstall it.
• Low quality cement.

• Do I need to repair communications or pipes that are located under the floor covering? You may have to install new ones.
• Will the overlap of the rooms on the lower floor withstand the additional weight of the upper floor?
• Work with a jackhammer is dangerous.

The houses, which were built in the middle of the XX century, had a wooden or mixed floor: wood beams were placed on top of metal, and in the toilet and bathroom there were areas with elements of reinforced concrete. The process of dismantling the concrete floor has its own characteristics. If you have removed the old cement screed, and now you want to begin the process of pouring a new one, then you will not be allowed to implement this project, since the total weight of the cement mortar will be large and the load on the floor will greatly exceed the allowable rate. The right choice is to install the screed on uneven places of lighter building materials.

Screed plays an important role in the design of residential premises.

It performs such important tasks:

• allows heat to be evenly distributed on the floor.
• Protects floors from various deformations.
• Aligns the floor, eliminates irregularities and cracks.
• Creates sound and heat insulation in the room.
• It takes a part of the load on itself, which helps to relieve the load-bearing structure.

Taking into account all the above, we can say that the floor screed will be cheap or expensive.

It depends on the:

• screed heights;
• type of building material (concrete or cement);
• room space;
• roofing;
• presence of reinforcement.

There are different types of floor screed:

• multilayer (composite). Contains gypsum and expanded clay;
• solid (monolith). A solution that contains cement, sand and water.

The main advantages of the screeds are as follows:

• long service life;
• reliability;
• protection from heat loss, water penetration, noise;
• suitable for parquet and other types of coatings;
• low cost, which is important in the preparation of the total budget;
• can withstand even heavy loads.

The negative aspects are in its difficult installation, long drying, high price. Removing the screed if necessary will not be easy, so the semi-dry or sand mixture must be thought through. From the number of layers of the screed depends on the price of its dismantling, because the masters will need to make considerable efforts for such repairs. When dismantling the screed, pay attention to all the decisive factors. The choice of tools for the process will depend on them. You can use concrete cutting machine or percussion instrument.

If you want to dismantle the screed without help, you need to remove all layers of the floor covering from its surface. Also need a variety of construction tools. You can apply a sledgehammer, scrap, hammer - it all depends on the thickness of the floor covering. After successful completion and preparatory work, you can begin disassembling the old screed. Remember that it is necessary to choose the right building tools. There are several different methods for removing old floor screed. For example, the impact method is very noisy, moreover, it is dangerous for overlapping rooms,because it can damage the house and your neighbors. You will need to exert great physical strength, which can harm your body.

Although there are some subtleties in the dismantling process, you will need some tools to remove the screed:

• perforators, hammers, sledgehammers, jackhammers, various saws are needed to cut rebar, if any;
• a vacuum cleaner;
• plastic bags.

Think about your health and buy remedies. In the process of work, a lot of dust and dirt will rise into the air, so protect your body as much as possible. The tools that you will use to dismantle the old screed can be divided into two groups: manual and electric. Analysis of the floor screed using electrical appliances will increase productivity, but such work will be expensive.

Tools that successfully remove old floor screed include:

• concrete mixer;
• perforator;
• borax;
• joint cutter.

During the work as the shock way apply punchers, jackhammers and saws. These tools work extremely noisy.Do not be an enemy to your neighbors - keep silence. Remember that in the apartment to the left, right, below, above, people also live. Do not be the source of night noise.

Tools for dismantling the screed with his own hands are as follows:

• crowbars;
• hammers;
• chisels;
• sledgehammers.

All the above tools will be useful in your work.

Additionally, you will need:

• working clothes;
• helmet;
• respirator;
• points

Dismantling the screed is implemented by breaking the monolith into separate pieces. For the removal of cement residues in advance, prepare strong garbage bags. Prepare the room before starting work. All furniture and other interior details need to be moved to other rooms and covered with cellophane so that they are not dusty. Dust will be very much. It should remove the baseboards, the old flooring. In case the coating will be reused, separate it from the floor with utmost care.

The disassembly process is carried out in several stages:

• First, do the necessary preparatory work, look at the FER (Federal unit prices). All rubbish, furniture, old coating must be removed from the premises. The coupler should be released.
• Assess the need for a floor screed disassembly process. In some cases, it can be saved, for example, if it is not covered with cracks, it has not collapsed. Small gaps can be painted over, and then re-lay the floor covering.
• A jackhammer should gouge a small part of the floor screed. This is necessary in order to understand what the thickness of the foundation is, whether there are any communications in it. During dismantling, communication should not be affected. At this stage, estimate the possible amount of debris.

• The coupler is gradually destroyed by a jackhammer. Work should begin from the site at the far wall, located opposite the exit from the room. The person begins his movement from it towards the door, gradually destroying the floor screed. Care should be taken not to break the overlap.
• The room is cleaned from parts of concrete and debris. All this is put in the trash bags and discarded.To remove construction waste you need to hire a truck.
• Now you can make a new floor screed.

Have a conversation with your neighbors in advance and tell about the repair work. Dismantling the old screed is a very lengthy and noisy process. In drawing up the estimate, be guided by the GESN (State Element Estimated Norms). In addition, the removal of the screed is associated with the presence of building dust and debris. Removing the floor screed without help is a laborious job that takes a lot of time and effort. You need to properly approach this process, because you do not just gain valuable experience, but also save the family budget.

On how to dismantle the floor screed, you will see in the next video.